Description
The British Hen Welfare trust has re-homed its millionth hen this year. The keeping of backyard chickens is more popular than ever, including rescue hens and rare breeds. Increasingly, backyard chickens are being presented in small and mixed animal clinics and more and more, are their owners demanding more advanced care for their birds. Many of the conditions seen in backyard flocks are predisposed to by husbandry issues. In backyard flocks, diet tends to vary tremendously and can lead to diarrhoea, obesity, large eggs (causing egg binding) and feather loss. There are also legal restrictions on what can and cannot be fed to backyard poultry such as the use of kitchen waste. This webinar examines the common husbandry pitfalls and conditions seen in practice in backyard chickens. The conditions are presented from the perspective of presenting signs rather than an A to Z of diseases. Presentations discussed include: weight loss, abdominal enlargement, feather loss, diarrhoea and respiratory disease. Practical treatments are discussed along with prevention strategies. Given the publication of the O’Neill report and the surrounding media attention with regard to antimicrobial use in animals, vets are increasingly concerned about prescribing antimicrobials to backyard chickens (as they are technically and legally food producing animals). This webinar covers the legislation and BSAVA guidelines, along with appropriate treatment regimens for the common conditions. The legal and public health requirements for poultry keepers who wish to sell their eggs are also described (including Salmonella testing, registering with government bodies, egg hygiene, sell by dates and medicines records).